Tailor

Best Bait:

Blue Pilchard, Sea Gar, lures.

The tailor season on the east coast of Australia is from July/August through to October. They are most plentiful from Fraser Island in the north to eastern Victoria in the south however they are also caught in Western Australia in the summer and occasionally in South Australia.

These fish are very aggressive hunters and an excellent fighting fish. They also make a very tasty meal if the fish is bled on capture. Tailor usually travel in schools but larger fish can be found as loners or in smaller schools. Boat fishermen can catch tailor in the open ocean, however rocky headland and ocean gutters with plenty of white water are the most popular spots. Dusk or early morning on a rising tide make excellent conditions but tailor can be caught through the day as well.

Tailor feed ferociously on small bait fish. When tailor come “on the bite”, often it only lasts 1-2 hours. They will go “off the bite” just as quickly for no apparent reason.

When tailor are biting, cast out and return your reel to the fishing position as soon as the bait hits the water. Take up the slack as your bait will often be hit quickly. Lean and wind with constant pressure to prevent the fish discarding the hooks. Tailor will fight hard and at times take line, but as the fish slows, continue winding and get it on the beach as soon possible.

Always cast into the white water or over it and wind back through it. If the fish are not biting, try a half pilchard instead of a whole one or try a lure as this will sometimes bring them on the bite. If a location produces no bites, do not stay long, move to the next most likely location and keep searching.

Most surf fishermen will choose the Alvey 650 models but for some variation, the geared side cast 650GRBC can often produce remarkable results. With its long casting distance ability, your lure can reach right out to the back of a gutter. The rapid recovery rate moves the lure quickly through the water, often encouraging a good strike.

The splash of the lure hitting the water also arouses the interest of any fish so always get your reel into fishing position as soon as possible. (Recovery rate of 65OGRBC is 100cm per turn) Gear ratio 2:1.

Handy Hint:

Bag limits apply in most states. Check with fishing regulations and only take as many fish as necessary.

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